On the night of January 1st 2019, the large containership MSC Zoe sails on southerly route along the Dutch Wadden Islands during a northwesterly storm. The storm causes the ship to lose 345 containers, leading to large-scale pollution of the sea and Wadden Islands. The Dutch Safety Board asked the Deltares research institute and the Maritime Research Institute Netherlands, MARIN, to assist in an investigation. The aim: to answer two central questions: what could have caused the loss of containers above the Wadden Islands; and how can we prevent this in the future?